io9
The writers strike is forcing executives to actually consider some of the rash decisions they've made. Case in point, the Justice League movie. Before the holidays there were announcements of cast members, chatter about the shooting location, a script that needed some work, and even rumblings from the Christian Bale/The Dark Knight camp that they weren't happy about another Batman hitting the screen. Looks like Warner Bros. has finally listened and is putting the skids down on the movie, hard.
With the strike going on, even rewrites can't be made to the film during shooting, so that nixes any possible fixes to the script, which is probably the main reason the studio is slowly turning around and saying, "Hmmm." That's also given them some time to consider the fan reaction to the cast of mostly unknowns and minor leaguers, and possibly to even consider the fact that they don't really want to alienate or piss off Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale, especially if there's now a possible third new Batman movie in the works.
We hope this means there's still hope for movies like Terminator 4, which even the producers have mentioned needs a bit of script work. When asked about the script for the movie yesterday, producer James Middleton had said they would have liked to do a rewrite on it but, "We have a very strong script going into production, and it's absolutely viable to shoot." However, given the news about the JLA film, they may reconsider and press pause on this film in order to get the script they want.
Justice League Movie has been delayed! [IESB]
Just because there's going to be a drought of entertainment doesn't mean we want lame crud rushed to the screen for our benefit. Take your time, smell the roses, and give those scripts another read. If they suck, toss 'em. We'll be paying especially close attention to Neuromancer, Ender's Game, The Diamond Age and all the other upcoming sci fi movies. You have been warned!
Comments
Memo to Idle Movie Execs:
Please don't make Diamond Age a movie.
That's just wrong.
The Diamond Age will make an awful movie. Neuromancer will just seem like a Matrix ripoff to most people. Not every book needs to be a movie.
DC needs to learn from Marvel. Since Marvel has taken back control on their movie properties, the decision was made to make movies with the entire Marvel universe intact. In other words, Spiderman is not the only possible hero in future Spiderman movies. The FF, or any other Marvel heroes, can be involved. For instance, in the new Hulk movie, Tony Stark makes an appearance. Robert Downey, Jr will be playing Stark in the Hulk. Having the same actors play the same hero regardless of the movie will give a nice continuity to the films. If Favreau gets his wish to do an Avengers movie, this idea will come in real handy for the multitude of spin offs an Avengers movie will produce.
Now the real question is, why make JLA when Kingdom Come is an awesome story already written and begging to be filmed. Then again, I thought The Dark Pheonix storyline was unfuckupable, but X3 proved me wrong on that one.
There are some that say the inability to hire re-writers may actually save an entire crop of quality screenplays.
@92BuickLeSabre: There is some merit to that hypothesis, sir.
That picture fits excellently with the article, by the way.
DC almost has the opposite problem of Marvel. They've "always" been under one house- Warner Bros., whereas Marvel was scattered to the winds under a dozen different contracts that Avi Arad (who has no taste, but tons of business acumen) has begun to consolidate.
I'm content to wait 5-20 years for a JLA movie if it means we won't have the lame cast that was put together for this one and the Nolan/Bale cycle can be completed without molestation.
But while we're waiting, someone should adapt Gerard Jones' "Men of Tomorrow" into a screenplay. Or do a more compact riff on Kavalier and Clay, the "origin stories" of the superhero genre are better than some of the comics themselves.
Ender's Game, though... Intriguing. Note to Hollywood: CAST BRITISH KIDS! They can *actually act* and not be entirely fucked up by the process unlike most of ours (e.g.: Kate Winslet and Christian Bale have careers; Lindsay Lohan and Macauley Culkin? Drug problems).
@DrWest: Thanks! Surprisingly I thought it would be easier to find some JLA slapping images, but I was quickly proven wrong.
Hollywood never make a crossover or compilation of different superhero movies. You can hope for a cameo...but that's asking a lot.
I think crossovers with other heroes is a mistake. Even in the comics. It just dilutes the original idea-especially for Superheroes. They should be completely self-contained. A separate Bat-verse, Super-verse, Spider-verse, etc...
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